


High Hopes Low Energy

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [24]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: (although the amount of prompts I got yesterday that were inappropriate, Also known as, Cuddling, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I may have missed some characters, I probably missed some tags, Implied/Referenced Major Character Death, Implied/Referenced Temporary Major Character Death, Lots of Crying, M/M, Mild Angst, NO SMUT YOU HEATHENS I KNOW WHAT YOU MIGHT BE THINKING, Paddy is probably traumatised from dying and the spirit vault, Somniloquy, and awful i hated it), and spoiled chicken as well, and that's all based off of stuff that one of my friends has actually said, and then being brought back from the dead, do with that what you will, it wouldn't be the first time there's another town in this series, its name means coat, name of the town may be incorrect, sleep-talking, sorry I'm hiding from little gremlins at my grandparents', that was astounding, there is a bed being shared, there's also stupid dwarf from yesterday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24808120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: After rescuing Paddy from the spirit vault and getting back to a small town, High Hopes chills at the inn. Paddy and Malark share a room and a couple words.[This might sound smutty but it’s not I don’t write smut and I don’t plan on doing so anytime soon, especially not for this fandom].
Relationships: Malark Dundragon/Paddock "Paddy" Whitlaw
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	High Hopes Low Energy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BubbleDramatically](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbleDramatically/gifts).



> Town name (Dulce Somnium) is Latin, I believe, found thanks to BubbleDramatically. Means sweet dream roughly.

Dulce Somnium could have been the prettiest town for all Malark cared, but all he wanted to do was go to bed.

They had just managed to wander down the hill that Malark and Paddy had woken up on to find the sun already setting. Understandably for someone who just got dragged from the spirit vault, Paddy was exhausted as well. Even with his brother and sister around, he was so tired that Hashaan scooped him up and carried him bridal-style down the hill, talking quietly to him to catch him up on everything that had happened. Meanwhile, Mina decided she was going to risk grabbing Malark and throwing him on her back. (He would have protested, but he was pretty tired to, and achy on top of it).

By the time they got to the inn, Malark was practically falling asleep on Mina without even trying. “Thanks.” He mumbled, and she laughed and tossed her ponytail over one shoulder again. It was right next to him, a little too much like a blanket for him to stay fully awake.

“No problem, Mally Boy. Just do us a favour and get some rest, alright?” He mumbled an affirmative as Gwing covered rooms, following Hashaan up the stairs. “You promise? I wanna hear you say it.”

“I promise.” A door creaked open thanks to Zada, who quickly checked up on Malark and Paddy as they were set down on the bed. Shaking himself awake, he shot a suspicious look at Mina. “Is there a reason why there’s only one bed?”

“Because _you_ are one of the clingiest people zat I have ever met.” Hashaan pointed at Malark, then looked at Paddy, “And _you_ are the best person to make sure the two of you stay in bed. So zat ve can vatch over you.”

“I’m not going to argue with that.” Paddy yawned, and Mina scoffed while she crouched in front of him, trying to rub his makeup off. “Stop, I can do it myself.”

“Pads.” It was the name that stopped him. Even half-asleep, Malark had the dim feeling that Mina was trying to convince herself that Paddy was actually in front of her, actually someone that she was touching and holding. Even Malark himself, who had literally gone to the spirit vault in order to bring Paddy back, could hardly believe the wood elf had returned from the dead.

Eventually, once they had finally gotten everyone to leave them alone (for _some_ reason, they were worried about Malark, too, even though he was _fine_ ), after eating for Hashaan’s sake and changing into some nightclothes that someone had grabbed for them—or possibly stolen—Malark tackled Paddy into bed. “Malark?”

“Nope. We’re sleeping right now.” He wrapped his arms around the wood elf’s waist, tugged him close, and then relaxed down into the bed as much as possible. For a few moments, neither talked. The only sound in their room was the even inhale and exhale from both of them. They were almost in perfect sync, and Malark felt Paddy pause and then nestle into Malark’s chest. Resting his head over the assassin’s heart, he looked up and met Malark’s gaze with a tired smile.

“You know, we need to talk about this at some point.” He whispered after a few more minutes. They could hear Ava shouting about drinking as she guided Connor and Cara downstairs, stomping down the hallway but noticeably muting her steps as they got close to the door. “Malark. We can’t just ignore this like we usually do.”

“Do we have to talk, though?” Malark asked. “Right now?”

“Not right now. But…” Straightening up a little (as if Paddy could do _anything_ straight), Paddy titled his head to the side. “Eventually. Please?”

Malark waited for a few moments, then took a deep breath. “Alright. Eventually.” A small smile crossed Paddy’s face, and he sat up a little more before shifting over Malark. “Paddy, you need to be resting right now.”

“I still haven’t thanked you for saving me yet.” Paddy leaned just a little bit closer, and for a brief moment Malark thought of when they had danced in that one inn room to festival music, when Malark had tripped over his own feet and they had nearly ended up kissing. Paddy’s fingers ghosted delicately over his cheek, tilting Malark’s face just a little more towards him. “Do you…I know I didn’t ask last time, but can I…?”

“Y-yeah.” Heat rushed to Malark’s cheeks because this would be their first _actual_ , _real-world_ kiss and were they actually doing that right now yes apparently they were Paddy was kissing him right then and he was just _sitting there like an idiot._

It barely lasted more than a few seconds, and then Paddy (who had at some point wrapped his arms around Malark’s neck) buried his face under Malark’s chin. He could feel the heat radiating from the wood elf’s face. “Thanks. For saving me.” After a moment, Malark let his hands land on Paddy’s back and rub up in between his shoulders. Paddy let out a short laugh and then pressed closer to him.

“I’d save you any day, Pads.”

“Yeah, probably.” Taking a deep breath, Paddy curled into Malark even more. “Can we…” he made a gesture and then yawned, and Malark let go of him for a brief moment so the elf could settle on his other side facing the window. Pulling him close with an arm around Paddy’s waist, Malark pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. “Mal, stop it.”

“Don’t want me to?”

“No, just…I just really want to sleep.” Paddy took a breath, and Malark cuddled him closer and did the same. Almost subconsciously, Paddy dragged the covers closer to the two of them and shifted his shoulders like he was trying to get comfortable. They fell into a safe silence again, and Malark closed his eyes.

It was the first time without nightmares in a while.

+++

When he woke up the next morning, it was a few minutes before he realised he really wasn’t dreaming.

Paddy was still curled into him, although at some point he’d flipped around during the night and had now smushed his face into Malark’s chest. Although it certainly didn’t _look_ comfortable, he was snoring lightly and his arms were around Malark’s waist. He was drooling just a little, too, actually, which was kind of gross and not something that Malark wanted on his shirt but at least it wasn’t his actual clothes and it was Paddy.

Smiling, he ran his fingers over Paddy’s spine, up his neck, and then into his hair. Even in the middle of sleeping, Paddy smiled softly and shifted closer, which was adorable in a way that Malark couldn’t even put words to. After a few moments, the wood elf mumbled something, and Malark kept playing with Paddy’s hair. The mumbling continued until his eyebrows suddenly furrowed. All of a sudden, clear as day, he snarled, “Ugh, I _hate_ that teacher!” It wasn’t his usual, sunshiny tone. It wasn’t even the snark that he could carry when he was grumpy. No, _this_ was actually terrifying, and he continued in the angry voice. “Fix it.”

“Fix what?”

“ _Fix_. It.” Paddy shifted and acted like he was holding something out, so Malark pressed against his hands for just a moment. When he pulled them away, Paddy smiled like absolute sunshine and said, “Thank you!” Before passing out again.

For a few seconds, Malark _just_ managed to hold in his laughter. The sun was shining through the window and he could hear people moving around downstairs, but he desperately wanted Paddy to get all the sleep he could considering how traumatic the past five months had to be for him. But then he just couldn’t hold it back anymore and he was shaking and Paddy snorted so loudly he woke himself up which was just even _funnier_ and by then Malark was actually laughing somehow.

Even though Malark could barely see Paddy (he was almost in tears, he was trying so hard not to laugh), he could still see the myriad of emotions that rapid-fire shot across the wood elf’s face. Shock and disbelief and fear first, fading quickly into worry as he glanced over them both for injuries or bandages or bruises, and then that disappeared into sheer happiness. “Everything alright?” Malark asked between breaths, reaching up and touching the wood elf’s face. “Paddy?”

“I—I’m alive.” He breathed, looking to the side and then meeting Malark’s gaze. There was a half-smile on his face, almost like he didn’t believe what was happening. Like he didn’t believe that Malark saving him was anything more than a dream. “I’m really alive.”

“Of course you are.” Paddy took a few shaky breaths and then abruptly buried his face in Malark’s chest, shoulders shaking. _Oh heck he’s crying what am I supposed to do? I wasn’t trained for this!_ “Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay.” Paddy let out a rather wet laugh, pulling Malark tighter while he kept crying. After a second, he realised that Paddy was clinging to him like he was a lifeline ( _and maybe he was_ ).

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—I didn’t—” He kept rambling for a few seconds, gasping between every couple of words like he couldn’t breathe. When Malark tried letting him go, tried getting a better look at him, Paddy just grabbed onto him tighter. “I should have just gone with you there was time I just—”

“Hey, stop apologising. It’s okay.” Paddy quieted down, but Malark could practically hear his mind ticking. Without really thinking about it, he gently kissed the top of Paddy’s head (yes, even with the face wraps. It worked…sort of). The second it happened, Paddy froze for a heartbeat before relaxing into him a little bit.

Silence fell over them both for a long while.

“I still died, Malark.” A soft, shaky breath broke the silence before Paddy continued. “I died and I left you all behind for _months_. I didn’t think about what that’d do to all of you. To Hashaan and to Zada and Ava…to you.”

“Well, if it helps, we knew that we could bring you back. We were actually looking for a way to do just that when Cara and Connor found us in Pollo Malogrado.” Paddy glanced up at him, and Malark hesitated for a moment before smiling at him. “Let’s just try to go back to sleep, yeah? We can talk about it later if you want to.”

After blinking a couple times, Paddy let his head rest back on Malark’s chest. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly awkward ending but this one felt like it was taking forever and it took me two days to finish (ugh, usually I’m better at that). Anyways, I’m going to finish up today’s other fics before jumping into some of my other stories that I’ve gotten ideas to write (actual novels, but I can’t tell you the ideas because that’d keep me from publishing them).   
> The sleep-talking is actually something that one of my close childhood friends has been known to say in her sleep. It’s so funny, because on the outside she is one of the nicest people that you will ever meet (think like Torlin but brighter and taller and a redhead). Like, she’s really compassionate, which is probably WHY she talks angrily in her sleep because that’s where it vents out. Fun stuff.  
> Thanks for reading! Now, into the fray once more!


End file.
